Degree Requirements

Your Degree Plan
Your undergraduate program of study at CMU consists of at least 124 credit hours of academic work completed according to a planned program. The degree plan you choose to follow will be largely influenced by your choice of a major and your decision to earn or not to earn teacher certification. As you complete your degree requirements you will need to read carefully with your advisor the sections in this Bulletin entitled:

General Education Requirements
You should include in your beginning studies the General Education Requirements which consist of the University Program and Competency Requirements.

If you are pursuing teacher certification, you will also need to complete Teacher Certification Requirements. You must immediately and carefully read Standards Leading to Teacher Certification and seek advisement in the Teacher Education and Professional Development Department.

CMU’s General Education Requirements are designed to allow maximum freedom of choice on all curricula, while also guaranteeing an orderly program of study that involves you in a common undergraduate experience.

General Education is intended to assist you in meeting the following objectives:

A. Developing undergraduate college-level competencies in reading comprehension, written communication, oral communication, and quantitative reasoning and interpretation.

B. Learning to examine and solve problems through intellectual process skills, such as comprehension, translation, interpretation, extrapolation, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Library and research skills are important accompaniments of these processes.

C. Evaluating critically a broad range of personal and cultural values.

D. Developing intellectual concerns to include:

1. the logic and substance of science;

2. an understanding of American society and culture;

3. a cross-cultural perspective through the study of diverse cultures;

4. an awareness of human nature from differing theoretical points of view;

5. the fine arts.

E. Experiencing intellectual community.

Other Degree Requirements
This coursework will provide a plan of study appropriate to a particular degree outside of the major/minor field(s).

Specialized Studies (Major/Minor)
Your major and minor(s) (if any) have their own requirements. Each is detailed under the department that offers it. You should review majors and minors offered and the degrees to which they are applicable.

Professional Studies Requirements and Electives
Several degrees contain a block of courses to satisfy professional studies requirements. An example may be found under the requirements for the B.S. in Education degree. Read these sections carefully and note their applicability to the degree plan which you have chosen.

Several degrees also contain electives which are blocks of credit hours that are completely unspecified. Students pursuing those degrees may elect to take courses in any department of the university to complete the minimum number of credit hours required for graduation.

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